Tangy-sweet and moist, these cranberry orange muffins are heavy on the flavor and bejeweled with beautiful cranberries in each bite. Enjoy them plain, or spruce them up with a crumb topping and drizzle of orange icing. You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. They’re simple to make, extra buttery, and freeze easily!
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos and more helpful success tips.
Cranberry is an underrated flavor in the fall and winter months. Often overshadowed by pumpkin, apple, and gingerbread, this tart beauty deserves its own spotlight. It is, afterall, perfectly hot pink when baked. 😉
I love cranberry and orange together, and the two lend a POP of vibrant flavor to today’s muffins. I use the same base muffin recipe that I rely on for many other fan-favorite muffin flavors including blueberry muffins, lemon poppy seed muffins, and apple cinnamon muffins.
One reader, Cathy, commented: “The muffins are fantastic! Delicious! Moist! For leftover muffins, we popped them in the microwave for 13 seconds and they were like right out of the oven. Added benefit—the house smells wonderful as they bake. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Terry, commented: “Just absolutely delicious and pretty, too! Love the cake-like texture, but the brightness of the orange and tartness of the cranberry take it over the top! Added a little orange zest to the frosting as well. Thank you for another perfect recipe! ★★★★★“
Here’s Why You’ll Love Today’s Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Bursting with tart and juicy cranberries in each bite
- Can use fresh or frozen cranberries—so convenient
- Loads of orange flavor with a touch of cinnamon spice
- Soft, tender, and cakey
- Top with brown sugar crumb topping or a sprinkling of coarse sparkling sugar
- Finish with sweet orange icing
Use My Base Muffin Recipe
Have you ever tried my go-to muffin recipe? It’s a standard muffin base I use for a variety of flavors, including my popular blueberry muffins. And with a couple simple tweaks, you can go from sunshine-sweet peach streusel muffins to chilly-morning cranberry orange muffins.
The carefully selected ingredients and ratio of wet-to-dry ingredients promises a moist and cake-like muffin that’s still denser than, say, vanilla cupcakes. The batter is thick, so the muffins rise nice and tall.
I developed the recipe back in 2014 and still use it all the time. I heavily depend on it because not only does it produce delicious muffins, it uses basic baking ingredients and holds up well to nearly any add-in. When you have a solid and forgiving baking recipe, the possibilities are endless.
You need a handful of familiar baking ingredients including butter, white granulated and brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, sour cream to add some moisture, milk to thin out the batter, plus flour, leaveners, and salt. A little cinnamon spice adds a seasonal spiced flavor.
Then you’ll load it up with orange zest, a splash of orange juice, and cranberries.
Overview: How to Make Cranberry Orange Muffins
You’ll need a couple mixing bowls and an electric mixer (either a stand mixer or handheld), because we’re creaming the butter and sugar together. (Here’s a quick refresher on how to cream butter and sugar, if you need it.) From there, it’s as easy as combining dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet in another, and then mixing them together and folding in the cranberries.
Expect a thick batter:
Divide the batter among 12 muffin cups, using a standard 12-count muffin pan. You’ll fill them to the very top and, because the batter is so thick, the muffins will rise straight UP instead of straight OUT like mushroom tops.
You can add a sprinkle of coarse sugar or bake them plain. But, to really make the most of these magenta-studded beauties, let’s add a crumb topping.
Crumb Topping
The crumb topping uses some of the SAME ingredients you need in the muffin batter—very convenient! Some crumb toppings require cold butter and a pastry cutter to mix, but we’re using melted butter here, so just use a fork. It’s the same crumb topping I use when making peach streusel muffins and apple cinnamon muffins (the apple has more cinnamon).
My crumb topping advice: do not overmix the crumb ingredients or else you will end up with paste. Keep it crumbly and press the crumbs slightly down into the muffin batter so it will stick.
Orange Icing Is Optional
Orange icing is a lovely finishing touch and adds even more flavor. You need just 2 ingredients: confectioners’ sugar and orange juice. Whisk together and drizzle over your warm muffins. Feel free to skip the icing, and, again, you can skip the crumb topping as well.
Below I have muffins from 2 separate batches: one plain served with homemade cinnamon butter (highly recommend!) and the other with crumb topping + icing.
If you can’t get enough of cranberries for breakfast, try my cranberry Christmas cake next. But don’t limit it just to Christmas… or just to breakfast! And serve this cranberry curd tart for dessert!
More Muffin Recipes
I have dozens of muffin recipes on my site. Here are a few favorites:
Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 23 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Buttery, tender, and moist, these cranberry orange muffins are topped with a brown sugar crumb and sweet orange glaze. Both toppings are completely optional if you prefer plain cranberry orange muffins. Try them with homemade cinnamon butter!
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2/3 cup (83g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
Muffins
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest (from about 2 oranges)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) plain yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh orange juice
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk (any kind), at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (185g) fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
- optional: coarse sparkling sugar, for sprinkling on top (if not using crumb topping)
Orange Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- Make the crumb topping: Mix the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter together in a small bowl until combined. Add the flour and use a fork to gently mix until crumbs form. Don’t over-mix into a paste. Just mix until it is crumbly. Place in the refrigerator while you make the muffin batter. Cold crumbs hold shape better when baking.
- Make the muffins: Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the orange zest and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the eggs, yogurt/sour cream, and vanilla, and beat for 1 minute, then turn up to high speed until the mixture is combined and mostly creamy. (It’s ok if it appears somewhat curdled.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients, orange juice, and milk, and beat until no flour pockets remain. Gently fold in the cranberries. Avoid over-mixing. Batter is thick.
- Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups, filling them all the way to the top. Spoon crumb topping on each, gently pressing it down so it sticks. If not using crumb topping, sprinkle muffins evenly with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F; then, without opening the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 16–19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 21–24 minutes. (Usually closer to 21 minutes if you’re skipping the crumb topping.)
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Let them cool for at least 15 minutes before icing.
- Make the icing: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice together and drizzle over warm or cooled muffins.
- Iced or plain muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze baked & cooled muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature before enjoying. Warm up in the microwave if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-count Muffin Pan | Cupcake Liners | Citrus Zester | Citrus Juicer | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer)
- Yogurt: You can use nonfat or low-fat plain yogurt, Greek or regular. You can also use sour cream.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or nondairy. For best taste and texture, I do not recommend nonfat milk.
- Cranberries: If using frozen cranberries, do not thaw.
- For a jumbo muffin pan: 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce to 350°F for 22–25 minutes, for a total of 27–30 minutes. Makes about 6. For mini muffins: 350°F (whole time) for 12–14 minutes. Makes about 36–40.
Reader Comments and Reviews
So I made these today and they turned out wonderful. However I was wondering if the yoghurt should also be at room temperature. I ran into an issue where the sugar/butter/egg mixture curdled as I was mixing it all together. I wasn’t sure how to proceed so I just followed the rest of the recipe and baked them anyway. So glad I did… But any thoughts? I also added some nutmeg and used two cups of fresh cranberries. Delicious!
Hi Melanie, Yes all of your ingredients including the yogurt should be at room temperature. I’m so glad they still turned out well for you! If you are interested in why room temperature is important I wrote this post explaining it!
These are the best cranberry orange muffins I have ever baked. These freeze beautifully too.
I added pecan pieces and lemon Greek yogurt they are delicious muffins. Thanks for the great recipe.
These muffins are delicious! I made recipe using just OJ, no milk. I used my mini-chopper to chop cranberries instead of whole because I like the cranberry throughout the batter. Also added chopped walnuts. I did not add the orange zest because I didn’t have an orange. Thanks for the tip of substituting sour cream for yogurt because I didn’t have the yogurt. I did make the icing and that just makes them completely yummy!
These were wonderful! My husband has celiacs and I made them using Bob’s Redmill GF 1 to 1 flour. No other changes. I wanted to pass along for others.
I made these for a brunch when I had some of my friends over and eveyone commented how good they were. This recipe is a keeper.
One of my favorite muffin recipes of all time! These rival a muffin from a bakery any day! This flavor combination is my mom’s favorite. I used strawberry greek yogurt this time since it’s all I had, and they turned out amazing!
The kitchen smelled lovely while the muffins were baking and these are so delicious!
I am getting ready to make these AGAIN! They are deeelicious!! They are light but moist and the flavor is to die for. I bake for my coworkers, seniors that I deliver meals to, and my women’s meeting at church!! They all love them! I’ve been cooking your recipes for about a year and you have taught me so much! Thanks for your hard work and your ads are not distracting to me.
Amazing, best muffins ever. Moist and cakey. We made these for a work Thanksgiving party. Thank you!
Great muffins! Was worried about the cranberries being too tart, I used fresh, and my husband not liking them but he loved them so much! Orange glaze is amazing. I used vanilla yogurt and almond milk. Perfect!
Amazing taste. Love the slight tart taste of the fresh cranberries & the fragrance of the orange zest in this muffin recipe. Just made a dozen as of now & the kitchen smells great. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I think I’ve commented before, but I have these in the oven right now & just have to say how much we enjoy this recipe. I keep a stash in the freezer (we’re down to one so I’m making more now). These have become the only muffins my husband seems to want! The tartness of the cranberries & the orange flavor really makes them pop. We don’t add the glaze because we love that they aren’t overly sweet (though the glaze is delicious as well). I just wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe.
These look amazing!
Can I use white whole wheat flour?
Absolutely! Same amount.
I have made these muffins several times now and they have become a favorite of my husband and son. They request these when they go on road trips. They are full of flavor when you use fresh squeezed OJ and use that in your glaze as the liquid. I highly recommend. Very very moist an bursting with flavor
These muffins are to die for! Served them with cranberry honey butter!
I made these tonight and they were great, My husband had two and wanted more. I used the sour cream and dried cranberries. These are the best, Thank you
I just made these muffins for the second time. They are, by far, the very best muffins I have EVER had! I don’t know how you do it, Sally. You are a magician in the kitchen! Thank you!
These have a wonderful texture. However, I would omit the cinnamon. Even one teaspoon seemed to overwhelm the orange flavor. I used orange extract in addition to the zest and it helped intensify the flavor.
Dark or light brown sugar…which do you prefer? And which one did you use for the muffins pictured?
Hi Holly! I used light brown sugar in the pictured muffins. Either work wonderfully in this recipe!
Jan. 5th was my 80th birthday and I invited some friends for coffee that morning, served these muffins since I had leftover cranberries from the holidays in my freezer. Without saying they were a huge hit. I’ve always loved cooking and baking and like to try new things (not always greatly received when my kids were young – how time flies) that was eons ago. My friends are always up for something new that I am trying, and are gracious with compliments. I am blessed with many guinea pig friends and they keep coming back. Thank you so much, keep up the work inspiring young people to be creative cooks. You’ll attract lifelong friends.
Happy birthday, Pat!! I’m thrilled that these muffins were a hit and thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind comment.
These are fantastic! Thanks for making our Sunday morning delicious!
Made this today and they were delicious even without the glaze. I added half cup walnuts for some crunch. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Made these with lemon instead of orange and they were delicious! Super moist and packed with flavour and cranberries!
I should mention also that these are way better than any bakery can make!
Hi Christine! You can follow the bake time and temperatures that I use for these jumbo muffins. Bake time will be the same, but you can always use a toothpick inserted in the center to test for doneness.
Hi Sharon! If you’d like, you can definitely chop the cranberries but I use them whole in this muffin recipe.
Hi Isabella! It’s usually around 2 Tbsp of zest, but you can add or reduce based on your preference. So glad you enjoyed the cranberry muffins, thanks for trying them!